Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)
Warner Home Video

Description

Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.

Collected reviews and ratings

10 Amazon user reviews

This is, by far, the best Chaplin documentary ever produced, and one of the best documentaries of ANY kind that I have ever seen. You will not be disappointed.
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9.5 digitallyobsessed.com | Jon Danziger

A sensible, loving and spirited reminiscence of one of the earliest and greatest of all filmmakers, and a good place to start if all you know about Chaplin is his getup as the Little Tramp.
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9.5 Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

It says a lot for Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin, an affectionate and richly illuminating critical documentary written and directed by Richard Schickel, that one could easily imagine the movie converting a few Keaton cultists to the other side.
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9.0 documentaryfilms.net | David Loftus

“Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin” attempts to present the man’s warts and errors, as well as the film and comic genius, in 131 minutes. Although one suspects it would be impossible to do this completely in anything less than six hours, “Charlie” does an excellent and absorbing job.
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9.0 New York Times | A.O. Scott

''Charlie'' is very much a writer's film: Mr. Schickel's elegant, occasionally knotty prose, read by Sydney Pollack, offers a clear, nuanced interpretation of the artist's work in relation to his life.
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8.0 DVD Verdict | Bill Treadway

Although a valiant effort, Richard Schickel's documentary Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin is far from definitive.
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8.0 filmcritic.com | Doug Hennessy

It’s the film clips and rare footage with voice-over commentary by directors and actors that make Charlie memorable.
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7.5 TV Guide | Maitland McDonagh

Comprehensive and reverential, film historian Richard Schickel's workmanlike documentary about the groundbreaking silent-movie comedian is built around the rather obvious idea that Chaplin (1889-1977) was driven by lust for the limelight (what performer isn't?), but delivers the facts and illustrates the work with a generous selection of well-chosen clips.
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